Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, to James McCauley, a carpenter, and Leona McCauley, a teacher. Both her grandparents were born into slavery. At two, she moved to her grandparents' farm in Pine Level, Alabama, with her mother and younger brother, Sylvester. At 11, she enrolled in the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls, a private school founded by liberal-minded women from the northern United States. The school's philosophy of self-worth was consistent with Leona McCauley's advice to "take advantage of the opportunities, no matter how few they were."
             Rosa was raised in an era during which segregation was normal and black suppression was a way of life. She lived with relatives in Montgomery, where she finished high school in 1933 and continued her education at Alabama State College. She married her husband, Raymond Parks, a barber, in 1932. She worked as a clerk, an insurance salesperson, and a tailor's assistant at a department store. White residents of Montgomery who were supporters of black Americans' struggle for freedom and equal rights also employed her as a seamstress.
             In 1943 Rosa became one of the first women to join the Montgomery National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Between 1943 and 1956, she served as a secretary for the group and later as an advisor to the NAACP Youth Council. She also contributed to the Montgomery Voters League to increase black voter registration. During the summer of 1955, Rosa accepted a scholarship given by community leaders, which gave her a chance to work on school integration at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee. This was an excellent opportunity for her because she was able to experience racial harmony, which nurtured her appetite. Rosa dedicated many years of her life to increasing equality for black Americans.
             After her arrest and involvement in the boycott, Rosa lost her job at the department store. In 1957 her...